Rules
Disclaimer The owners and operators of this text-based role-playing game are making no profit from its operation. We are not to be held liable for any damages that may come from its use, but we reserve the right to enforce our specific rules and regulations. Being here is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate behavior may lead to the offender being denied access to this server. By entering this game, you have agreed to abide by all the rules and policies as outlined in these news files and as ruled by staff when the occasion demands it. Please respect that at all times when connected to the MUX or its associated websites. Advertising Our ad exchange policy is very simple. If you want to post an ad here, then you must also post our ad on the game whose ad you want to post. You should submit a +request in the Other category if you want to ad swap, and please include the text of the other game's ad. Once the ad is posted here, a staff member will log in to the other game to ensure that our ad has also been posted. If it has not, then the ad on this game will most likely be removed. (Though the matter is subject to discussion, in case there is some legitimate reason why the posting of our ad was delayed.) Please note, we reserve the right to refuse to post any ad if we feel it is inappropriate for any reason. Proper Game Conduct These are general guidelines to behavior on the game. 1. Be polite and courteous to other players. Debates and arguments happen, but please don't let them get out of hand. If asked to move an argument or debate to pages, do so. Do not make any derogatory remarks about a gender, ethnic group, culture, country, belief system, or lifestyle; do nothing that might be construed as bigotry or hate-speech. Respect the opinions of others. Do not spam or abuse ANSI. 2. Do not harass others. Do not attempt any kind of malicious attack on any other player, whether by code, bothering them after being asked to stop, or spreading malicious gossip. Do not incite other players against each other for any reason. Do not make threats against other players or staff. Any time someone asks you to leave them alone, do it immediately. If you have questions or concerns, contact staff. Do not harass the other player. If you believe you are being harassed by another player, politely ask them to stop and log the offending behavior. If they do not comply, talk to staff. Avoid getting into a drawn-out conflict if at all possible. 3. Keep IC and OOC separate. Actions against your character should not betaken as actions against you. OOC information such as that contained in character sheets is not IC knowledge. This should be a no-brainer. 4. Follow all game policies at all times, as explained in these NEWS files. The Spirit of the Rules In any case of a harassment claim, the final ruling lies in the judgment of the game's senior staff members. Yet, one who avoids violating the letter of this rule may find themselves still judged to be breaking the spirit of the rule. That is, the rules may say "do not poke other people with a stick." If you are found, however, to be running up and waving a stick in someone's face and saying "Not poking you!" (so to speak), please note that staff is likely to judge you as still being in violation of the policy, in which case disciplinary action will be taken. Consequences A first offense violation, depending on the severity, may only merit a warning, but if staff judges that a critical violation of this policy has been made, players may be removed from characters, placed on probationary membership to the game, or either temporarily or permanently banned from connecting to the game. For violations that staff finds to be minor or incidental (perhaps arising from a genuine misunderstanding), consequences may be mitigated or reduced to a formal or informal warning. Any questions about this policy should be sent via @mail to *STAFF. Complaints Complaints Against Other Players If you have a complaint against another player for any reason, the proper way to go about dealing with it is to send a Complaint +request and explain the problem. Any time another player breaks the rules listed in NEWS RULES, it might be grounds for a complaint. Here are the rules about complaints: All complaints of harassment must be backed up by logs. In addition, all complaints must be made by somebody who is a direct victim of the behavior concerned. A complaint of "X is harassing Y" will not be accepted unless it comes directly from "Y." A player may assist another player in filing a complaint if they are uncomfortable doing so, but the victim of the behavior must be directly involved in the complaint procedure. This policy is being implemented to ensure that third parties do not go charging into player disputes, only possessing one side of the story and, thus, potentially make situations worse. If you wish to mediate a dispute, you may, but you must be extremely careful and if you are not absolutely sure you can do so without angering either party worse, then you should request another mediator, preferably a non-involved member of staff. Complaints Against Staff Our staff tries to be professional and courteous in all our dealings with players. If at any time you feel you are being treated poorly, follow the steps below: * Try to talk to the staffer in question in private. Often, "conflict" is merely a failure to communicate. We have page and @mail here for a reason, and if you have a problem, it's encouraged that you speak to the staffer in question before... * If the staffer is unavailable if you cannot reach a compromise with them, please feel free to ask another On-Duty staffer for their help. * If you feel the staff member you contacted is biased or they're off-duty, contact the game director, Dr. Manhattan (Page if he's on duty, @mail if not.) He has the final say in all matters regarding site policy and staff issues. If your issue is with Dr. Manhattan, then you should get in contact with another senior member of staff. Honestly, we WILL try to give you a fair resolution, no matter whom the complaint is against. Fair Use Policy The Heroes Awakening game, website, and news files are copyright to the staff of the game, all rights reserved. All players are granted the right to use this material in connection with the game only. All other uses must be separately negotiated with staff. Characters and all related information remain the property of their respective creators. Any reference to existing copyrighted material is done without profit and is not intended as a challenge to the rights of the copyright owners. If you build something for the public grid, you cannot decide to delete it once you leave. You may delete a private residence, but any public or group building is considered "fair use" for staff to leave that building in place for the duration of the life of the game. The same holds true for any news files you have helped create or wiki articles you have written. The reason for this is that once something is created and integrated to the theme, we consider it part of the game's canon. Once you have left your mark on the game, it will remain there for the sake of continuity. Any plot contributions you have made will also remain part of the game's canon and history. Any logs you appear in will remain in place on the MUX Wiki or wherever else they may have been posted. Staff makes no claim to them beyond their continued use on this game. If, for any reason, you wish to request that something of yours be removed, you may discuss it with staff. However, staff reserves the right to stand by this fair use policy. Plagiarism At Heroes Awakening, we require all character write-ups and other written text to be the original work of the player. Players are not to directly copy or "paraphrase" descs, character sheets, etc, from other players, websites, or any other source. If you have permission to use the information, written consent to use anyone else's work must be provided to staff BEFORE any application is submitted. Quotes from published sources may be included in elements of your character application, so long as they are presented as /quotes/ and are supplemental -- such as your +finger quote -- rather than comprising actual elements of your character application. Any material found to be plagiarized from another source will be subject to removal at the discretion of staff. Any character that contains plagiarized information will be required to be written up again with all original work and may be set unapproved and removed from play without warning. The offending player's future apps will, by necessity, be closely scrutinized for further offenses, and if a player is found to be guilty of multiple offenses of plagiarism, they may be asked to leave the game. Privacy Policy Whatever personal information that staff ask for, or can see, is entirely CONFIDENTIAL. We require a valid email address of all players, but we do not give out, sell or spam such email addresses. They are used only to track alts and to possibly contact players if the game is down. Please do NOT ask staff for somebody else's email address. Unless the player has chosen to make it public, it is against policy for us to give it out. On the same note, it is also against policy for us to inform ANYONE of the site or IP from which a player is connecting or divulge their alts. Staff can see this information, but we do NOT give it out. Finally, staff would like to reassure everyone that we do not log private conversations or read your @mail, despite this being common practice on other games. However, anyone who sees your conversation could be logging it and we do not restrict what a player may log from their own characters. Remember, telnet connections are not secure, and we are not responsible for anything that might happen as a result of security being compromised. Public Content Rating All conduct in public areas is to be kept to a general rating of PG-13. Language, general content, violence, sexuality, etc. are to be kept within that general scope at all times. This includes content in character traits, poses, dialogue, etc. as well as OOC statements in any public area of the game or on any public channel. This game is not specifically adult- oriented, and as such themes or concepts that do not belong on a game where minors are allowed to play should be avoided. What players do in private scenes is not of concern to staff so long as all involved parties are legal adults. Language: Minor vulgarity and profanity is considered acceptable, e.g. the use of such words as one might see on prime time broadcast stations in most television shows. This may be pushed a bit, but that should only be rarely -- use common sense, please. What, then, is not acceptable? Explicit racial slurs, extreme or excessive language (such as the "F-word"), sexually charged or explicit language, and general "adult language" is not acceptable in public. In the case of IC swearing, starred out (****) words are an acceptable substitute. Violence: Extreme or graphic violence should also be avoided. This game ismeant to resemble comics /before/ bloodbaths became acceptable. Multiple NPC deaths (more than one or two in a scene) should be approved by staff ahead of time. Legality: Please do not publicly discuss illegal activities, such as illegal downloads, file sharing, or similar activity. We do not police what people say in pages, so players are on the honor system there. Inpublic areas of the game, this rule will be strictly enforced. Additionally, you are to avoid actions which hedge close to the limits of this policy, such as excessive or overt sexual innuendo or any description of graphic violence, sexual acts, or anything else which is likely to cause offense to most other players. We do not want to be unduly harsh or restrictive, nor do we care if you flirt in public, IC or OOC. However, there are channels for sexual innuendo or other adult topics of discussion. It is asked that such topics be generally restricted to those areas, rather than in public rooms. If you are at any time asked to stop discussing such a topic, or you perceive that you may be making someone uncomfortable, we ask that you move the discussion to the Adult channel immediately. If you want to surpass these guidelines, then you must do so in a private room, in which you must take reasonable steps to ensure that none of the players involved are minors. You may not make news posts about or submit logs for scenes that violate this policy. About TinySex We understand that it is not possible to enforce a complete ban on TinySex. However, in order to maintain the PG-13 rating of the MUX and its suitability for minors, the following polices are in place: * Players are expected to take reasonable steps to ensure that the person with whom they are engaging in such activity is not a minor. No player is to be coerced, blackmailed, or led to believe that they must engage in such play. No such activity is to take place in public areas of the MUX, either IC or OOC, abiding by the general guideline that if it would not be acceptable in public in real life, it is not acceptable in public on the game. * In public or in private, characters who are physically and/or mentally below the legal age of consent in New York state should never be engaged in TinySex, period. The further below this age one or more of the characters in such a scene is/are, the harsher the penalty will be. In particular, anyone found to be engaging in TS via characters who are under the age of 16 will be reviewed before staff and the offending parties will most likely be banned from the game. That is not acceptable here. * Players are to avoid appearing in public areas in a sexually explicit desc (The "I didn't know I was wearing that" excuse is allowable, as long as it is VERY infrequent). All room descriptions, object descs, backgrounds, sheets, etc must not contain sexually explicit material. Players are also requested not to place in +finger or elsewhere URLs that lead directly to adult material. About the Game's Staff First of all: we're human, and we make mistakes. We also do our best to make the game fun for everyone. We know that some rules will be popular with some people and not with others, and we understand if you disagree with a rule or policy of the game. However, just remember that we ARE obligated to enforce said rules whether you like them or not; harassing staff about the rules won't accomplish anything but annoying us. We promise to do our best to deal fairly with you, so please do the same for us. Your cooperation and patience when dealing with us is much appreciated! When contacting a staff member, only do so when they are listed as "on-duty." Never bother a staff member who is listed as off-duty -- you can see it on '+who' or '+staff'. If you do not see a staff member available on +staff, they are to be left alone. Whether or not you know who the staff member's alts are, never page anyone's PC alt with a staff question or problem. Also, do not contact the staffer off-game via messaging programs or on other MU's except in the case of extreme emergency, such as if you believe the game is being hacked. Generally, staff members should only be\ contacted off-game via email at the address listed in their +finger info. Also, please avoid paging a staff member when a +request or @mail would suffice. Questions are fine via page, but it preferred that actual requests be sent through the +request system. You can also send @mail: Admin Email: admin@heroesdreams.com Staff Player Character Alts This policy goes both ways. No staffer may act as staff through one of his or her PC alts, and if they do an emit with their PC alt, they are emitting as any player, not as a staff member. Basically, you are free to treat staff PC alts exactly as you treat any other PC -- and in fact are expected to do so. In turn, the staff member should not act through a PC with any authority not otherwise held by a PC in their position. (Such as a staff PC alt who happens to be a team leader, or running a TP.) If a staffer needs to come into a situation as an admin for any reason, she/he is obligated to do so using her/his OOC staff alt. Notably, PC staff alts may be used, by the player, to submit a complaint to staff as a whole regarding the conduct of another player (as documented in 'NEWS COMPLAINTS'). However, they will NOT be permitted to be part of the ruling on that complaint. Instead, it will be handled by other staff members like any other player complaint, only without the participation of the staffer who actually filed the complaint. In short, when a staffer is on to play, they have the right to do so without their status as a staffer intervening, and by the same token should not be exerting any staff authority via a PC alt. Category:NEWS